Water Bottle - Will They Find It?

[Aussiesue]

Brought my 3 girls home Sunday. They're eating loads of hay and scoffing down their veggies. Haven't spotted them using the water bottles yet though? Is there a trick or will they work it out eventually? Should I put a dish of water in in the meantime? Tonight I stacked hay up under it - thought they might bump into the water spout while they were eating. :-)

 

[AbiS]

I had the same worry when I first got my two boys because the water level never seemed to move in the bottle - turned out they just didn't need much water at the time because they were eating loads of grass. However, I put a small bowl of water on both levels of the hutch (they were just tiny and I didn't want them to get stuck on a level without access to water). I kept the bowls in until I knew they could use the ramp without any problems and until I had seen them both use the water bottle. It took quite a while to see them both as Barney doesn't drink very much but we got there in the end.

I would imagine they would have found the bottle themselves but I needed my own piece of mind.

 

[Jess]

They'll find it in their own time, most likely when you're not there. Can put a dish out if it gives you some peace of mind. I put a dish in with the guinea pigs and it ended up getting spilt

 

[Wiebke]

As long as your girls are having plenty of veg, you need not worry about dehydration.

Guinea pigs don't sweat like us humans, they regulate the body temperature via the blood flow in the ears. If it gets hot, it is more important to keep your girls cool rather than overdoing the watery veg and fruit.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/heat-stroke-signs-and-prevention.105317/

 

[LeahsPiggies]

I've heard that water bowls are dangerous for guinea pigs - I can't remember the reason why now.

I've given one to one of my girls for a couple of days because I didn't have a spare water bottle and she didn't tend to drink much.

As long as you're giving them plenty of veg don't worry.. They'll find the bottle soon x

 

[twiams]

I've heard that water bowls are dangerous for guinea pigs - I can't remember the reason why now.

I don’t think they are particularly dangerous, just not recommended, just because they can spill over and make the cage wet, or the piggy can step in it, get wet and then in turn get cold. I’ve never particularly liked water bowls, i had one under a bottle before to collect all the drips, because my piggy always dribbled when he drank, but he always used to just put his feet in and the odd poo too, the water just looked horrible after a few hours and i’d have to change it multiple times a day so was a bit annoying!